In just his first two years in Lexington, John Calipari has had six former Wildcat players get selected in the first round of the NBA Draft. All but one fell under the one-and-done generation of players.

His career has benefitted greatly from the “one year removed” policy. After each season, Calipari sees talented players head to the NBA, while he welcomes in another crop of blue-chip prospects. But through it all he’s missed one thing: an NCAA Championship. Read More »

Is it UNC’s fault they are just too good? We see them beat Mississippi Valley State 101-75, and all the critics want to do is point out their terrible outside shooting (5-19) and bad numbers from the free-throw line (16-31). Someone like Brent Arrington drops 33 on them (in 18 shots), and we’re complaining, saying they really aren’t that good. The fact is they did what they had to, and they also still have some pretty good talent. John Henson went for 18 and 14 while Harrison Barnes added 18 of his own … Read More »

*College basketball is here (unlike the NBA), and this year might be one of the best in recent memory. The powerhouse is back, while the Cinderellas believe. That’s a deadly combination. We know some of y’all have been asking for some previews. We have you covered – the top 16 teams in the nation are being previewed individually here. After we broke down Ohio State earlier this morning, we’ll keep this going with No. 2-ranked Kentucky (ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll).* Read More »

Earlier in the day on Monday, Carmelo Anthony characterized last night’s Knicks/Magic game as an “almost must win” for New York. Then he and his teammates went out and played with a desperate urgency that’s been lacking, well, since ‘Melo showed up in NYC and outlasted Orlando in overtime, 113-106 … Carmelo wasn’t just his team’s leading scorer last night, he was a true leader. He went for a game-high 39 points, attacked the glass (10 rebounds), and even sort of looked to pass to teammates before he got bogged down over-dribbling or holding the ball. And on top of that, he was busting his ass on defense. There were whole sequences where Carmelo was all over Ryan Anderson (!) when Anderson had the ball at half court. ‘Melo was moving his feet, fighting for positioning, boxing out, the whole nine … The bad part for Knicks fans is obvious: Read More »

While most of the summer has been focused on the NBA, college basketball will be starting up again in a few weeks. As a basketball team manager at Vanderbilt, the SEC is my specialty, and while Kentucky is loaded with All-American freshmen again, experience still counts in this league. Here are the returning players most important to their team’s success this season: Read More »

For two teams that were ranked in a lot of people’s national Top 10 in the preseason, it still seems like an underdog story for West Virginia and Butler to have made it to the Final Four. It shouldn’t be that much of a surprise, though, as the Mountaineers and Bulldogs have most of the elements required to succeed in March: Defense, experience, strong guard play, versatility, good coaching, and a couple of legit stars. And perhaps more importantly, both teams got hot at the right time. West Virginia’s win over Kentucky yesterday was their 10th in a row, while Butler’s win over Kansas State was their 24th in a row … Read More »